Tigers bust out unbeaten in early district action

Elliott, Schnerr shine in huge win over Rudder

Justin Elliott pitched brilliantly in the Tigers’ 4-3 win over Bryan Rudder. The senior allowed six hits and struck out five batters. Reporter/ Bill Martin
Rockdale has this rebuilding thing down pretty cold.

In a season in which they were expected to str uggle as they replaced six productive seniors, the Tigers have pounced out of the district cage with a 3-0 mark after nipping Navasota 6-3 Tuesday night on the road.

Rockdale was coming off a 4-3 victory over Bryan Rudder and are now 8-5 on the season.

The Tigers used timely runs batted in from J.B. Debault and Brandon Gibbs to secure the win Tuesday night as they busted open a 1-1 affair with three runs in their half of the fourth and chipped in single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.

Greg Chelf collected his fourth win of the season against one loss after lasting 6 1/3 innings and allowing six hits and two walks while striking out six batters.

Dillan Schnerr acknowledges the crowd after clubbing a two-run double to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the first inning against Rudder. Reporter/Bill Martin
After Chelf surrendered two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Gibbs secured the final two outs for the save against a Navasota (9-5, 0-1) team that is expected to challenge for a playoff spot.

The Rattlers were led by last season’s district most valuable player Kye Hildreth who was 2-for-4.

“Clutch hitting by Schnerr,” said Rockdale Coach Jarad Richards. “I told the guys we needed to score first and score early to get the momentum. We did that in the first inning. And Justin took it from there.

Sophomore shortstop Duke Schneider puts the leather on Rudder’s Matt Fritsche in the fifth inning on a throw from Joe Sanders. Reporter/Bill Martin
“He threw great. There were a few times they threatened us and he got in some binds, but he competed his way out and the defense bailed him out with some great plays too. “

Rudder entered the contest with a 11-1 record and were scoring runs and banging out hits at a double-digit pace.

The Rangers’ only loss coming in was to Class 5A Harker Heights and they opened district action with a 14-4 win over Caldwell.

Rudder also features a deep pitching staff, but it was Rockdale’s Elliott who stood out on Friday.

Throwing 116 pitches, the senior righthander limited the Rangers to six hits, while striking out five to run his record to 2-2.

After allowing two runs in the sixth that trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 4-3, Elliott retired five of the next seven batters to secure the win.

After an error by second baseman Reid Davidson and walk put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, Elliott coaxed three straight Rudder batters into flying out to end the game.

Elliott kept the Rangers’ most dangerous hitter, Will Johnson (5 HR, 17 RBI) off the basepaths on an 0-for-4 night.

Schnerr, who has been hovering around .600 all season, opened the scoring by clubbing a two-run double to centerfield in the bottom of the first to push Rockdale quickly out in front.

Greg Chelf and J.B. Debault had reached on singles before Schnerr stepped to the plate.

The Tigers added on two more runs in the fifth when Chelf walked and Debault singled again. Chelf made his way around the bases and scored on a wild pitch, while Debault scored on Elliott’s fielder’s choice for a 4-1 lead.

Debault led Rockdale w ith a pair of singles and two runs scored.

“The biggest difference was that Justin and Joe were able to control their running game along with the infielders working the bags too. We’ve emphasized that here lately because we haven’t been doing a good job stopping the running game from opponents. “It paid off for us because in one run game every free bag is huge. We are excited to be off to a 2-0 start but we also know that we need to be 4-0 at the end of spring break so we aren’t going to relax—hopefully.”